Frank said:

"I don’t emphasise difference - rather diversity."

:) mate.. umpteen zillion jibes almost come to mind there.. but I'll resist.

The main bone I wish to pick with you this time is your reluctance to recognize there is an 'us' (Australians, Australian culture) and a major point is that you used the word UNIFORMITY.. suggesting that this is what I'm standing for.

How many times do I have to state it.. I'm for a 'blended' society, where the best of all cultures are combined. This will mean a DEGREE of uniformity, but nowhere near the extent you are suggesting like its some clone factory.

Uniformity is a noble goal, but FORCED+RIGID uniformity is abbhorrent. Guided, gradual uniformity is not a bad thing.

In terms of culture, and anthropology related to 'culture shock' syndrome..the term is 'studied adjustment' as opposed to 'going native' or 'Denial/rejection' retreating into ones own sociocultural eggshell.

It is with the idea of 'studied adjustment' that I suggest funding should be allocated.

You seem to be incredibly persistent in maintaining diversity (which is 'difference' for crying out loud) for its own sake.
Ok..we can disagree on that, I personally love the idea of familiarity, predictability, a sense of 'us'. If I want a serious dose of chinese culture I'll zip off to malaysia or somewhere. Sheesh, its only 7 hours away.

But the thing is, where ever we go to find cultural entertainment and enrichment, it always turns out to be a mob with a VERY strong sense of 'US'.. thats why the Chinese and Malays were hacking each other to death in 1969 in Malaysia.

Being part of a national family is a pretty nice idea. Each has his own temperement/personality, but they are connected by a common culture.

"Chinese immigrants... they huddle into urban ghettos..."

No doubt there are far too many Chinese migrants within a short time, since the day Bob Hawke cried a tear during the Tiananmen massacre.

But look, if this country were to be screwed by Multiculturalism, by politicians with more emotion than brain, one can still be positive this way - Be glad it is Chinese who came instead of migrants of the Islamic kinds.

Or else you would be seeing numerous Muslims ghettos where you would not dare venture. Ghettos where you would be lynched to death wearing a "Muhammand sucks" T-shirt or tossing a Koran in a bin.

Whereas it is quite alright to come in bikini to a Chinese ghetto, wearing a T-shirt critical of Mao, Confucius, Buddha... whatever. I think you may even find some Chinese warming to some of that.

Who allowed in migrants of the Islamic kinds? If we can swap out the lot with more Chinese, then I am all for it.

Oligarch, when the topic is Bhutan, let’s debate Bhutan. In the meantime, back in Australia you ask, “Why this irrational obsession with diversity for diversity's sake?” I dunno. I haven’t seen anyone argue that line. Diversity is a fact of Australian life – not some future aspiration. Let’s deal with it rationally. After all, Australia was diverse before Cook and has been ever since. The First Fleet was racially mixed. Post-War diversity stimulated Australian manufacturing and people from many ethnic backgrounds built modern Australia.

You assert that we now have “cultural division, ethnic tension and parallel communities”. Could those phenomena be your own creation with your supremacist concepts like ‘majority culture’ and resentment of so-called ‘alien minority cultures’? You create a mirage where YOUR Australia is “forced to accommodate every backwards non-Western culture at the expense of its own traditions.” Your language is as strident as your history is weak.

David, I don’t think of myself as part of your 'US' trying to control 'THEM' however much you dress your assimilationism in euphemisms like 'studied adjustment'. I live in a wonderful country culturally rich and secure in its diversity - a term which can only be conflated with difference by those who are blind to the semantic difference.

If I want a dose of Chinese culture I can choose to zip off to Little Bourke St. It’s only ten minutes away. Interesting, however, that you should contemplate getting a fix of Chinese culture in Malaysia and not China.

Your mate, CZ Tan tells us: “Be glad it is Chinese who came instead of migrants of the Islamic kinds.” He seems to have some fear of lynching by ‘Islamic kinds’ whereas the Chinese are peaceful. So what are we on about: fear of religion or fear of ethnicity? Or just ignorance?

Pauline Hanson tells us she is happy to have Christian Muslims come to Australia. I suppose some OLO posters will share her ignorance.

FrankGol,

I completely disagree with you on Bhutan. There are things that are true whether it is Bhutan, Sydney or Timbuktu. If Bhutanese does not learn from overseas experience then it may be too late. Likewise, since Australia failed to learn from Bhutan from day one, we could be in strife tomorrow.

"Diversity is a fact of Australian life". Sounds like there might had been a problem even before Cpt Cook then.

The word "Diversity" is neutral. It may be good or bad, depending. However my impression is that you think (a) diversity can only be good (b) if we emphasize the common good, and (c) ignore the bad/difference.

Therefore your sentiment is more of a circular argument to me - "Diversity is a fact, therefore it must be good. If it is not good, then ignoring the bad will make it good".

Are you satisfied with just a dose of Chinese culture in Little Bourke St? Is this what makes diversity a success, (just a little bit)?

Well some people are only satisfied with much more. I would not waste my time with Chinese culture anywhere in Australia. In Singapore/Malaysia, you can watch quality performance of Chinese dance troupe (from China) free of charge in shopping centres. Free performance that you can never get in mainland China (because those are export earners).

Why not then have a lot of Chinese diversity even in Australia? Perhaps I would bother to come down to Big Bourke St one day.

Do you happen to know there is a lot of racism, ethnic tension, division in that culturally diversified Malaysia? Perhaps we can talk about that when Australia becomes more like Malaysia?

I know Islam is a religion. May be you're not aware Islam is also the ideology of a common culture, irregardless of ethnicity. Some 'Christians' do think they are Muslims and vice versa because they mistakenly think their Gods are the same. Perhaps you are quite ignorant yourself.

GZ Tan

I'm struggling to understand what you say we failed to learn from Bhutan and vice versa. Come to think of it, I am struggling to understand most of what you write.

I can't see the connection between alleged problems before Captain Cook and my statement that "Diversity is a fact of Australian life".

Your impression that I think "(a) diversity can only be good (b) if we emphasize the common good, and (c) ignore the bad/difference" is totally wrong. But don't let that stop you telling me what I think.

Having made extensive trips to various parts of China, starting before it became a tourist destination, I know a bit about Chinese culture. I was in Shanghai twice last year. And I have first hand experience of Malaysia, Singapore and (before the political changes Hong Kong). But I'm also perfectly happy to experience a dose of Chinese culture in Little Bourke St or Chinatown in Sydney. Or to go to my son's girl friend's Chinese-Australian family in Footscray. It's all facinating and enriching.

Tell me more about Islam as "the ideology of a common culture, irregardless of ethnicity". Sounds fascinating.

“I'm struggling to understand what you say we failed to learn from Bhutan and vice versa. Come to think of it, I am struggling to understand most of what you write” -so, this is your personal problem well illustrating a distance between reading/writing skills and receptive abilities of addressees, FrankGol.

However, in this forum GZTan is much more lucky than me: a notice arrived that some post of mine (which one?) was not allowed to appear because of being “incomprehensible”.

Hardly I comprehend why The Hicks were paid from public coffins for their voyage to Guantanamo but it does not affect their trip at all.

That is multiculturalism in doing.